The rules are simple, and familiar to anyone who has played any of the recent wave of similar games. You’ve got a limited number of guesses with which to name the film; each incorrect guess reveals a new still and another chance to guess; win or lose, you get some coloured squares to easily share your result; and there is just one film to identify per day. Thankfully, today’s movie wasn’t from the past 22 years and I got it in three guesses. While the various Wordle-inspired games share a lot in common, I do think they sit on a spectrum. At the one end, you’ve got Wordle, Nerdle, Octordle, all of which feel to me like puzzle games. You likely have the requisite knowledge to solve them but must investigate to find the answer in as few steps as possible. At the other end you have Heardle, Who Are Ya?, and now Framed, all of which feel more like trivia games than puzzles. If you know the answer, you know the answer. If you don’t, the games will reveal more information - the stills in Framed become more useful as they advance - but you’re not really puzzling anything out. This feeling of ‘Well, I just don’t know this film’ caused me to give up yesterday, although in retrospect this was a mistake given the final frame contained a sign with the movie’s name on it. (Worldle feels like it sits somewhere in the middle of this spectrum, offering directions and distances to help you feel your way towards identifying a country even when you don’t recognise its shape.) In any case, Framed is fun. It’s another way to test your trivia knowledge, to fill up WhatsApp chats with friends, and to distract yourself during work. Play it here. Looking for more freebies? Check out our list of the best free PC games to play in 2023.
